Rena Shao '23 finds inspiration in the world around her. She turns that inspiration into award-winning poetry and prose. Rena was recently named a regional winner of the prestigious 2021 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Gold Key for her flash fiction piece, Staying Strong.
"The short story Staying Strong is about a victim of a hate crime," Rena says. "It was inspired by news stories I've read about Islamophobia."
The powerful piece includes a young girl's hopeful diary entry as she adjusts to her new home in the United States—far from her old life in Mogadishu—and the realities of her new life. Rena also earned two Honorable Mention Awards, one in the flash fiction category for Lonesome Mouse, the other for her poem, Burnt Honey.
"Burnt Honey was inspired both by a poetry unit we did in English class, and by the experience of the Chinese-American community," Rena explains.
The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, each year. are among the oldest, best known, and most highly regarded competitions for young creatives. Each year, more than 300,000 students submit entries to the awards competition. Past winners include authors Truman Capote and Joyce Carol Oates; artists Andy Warhol and Cy Twombly; actors Alan Arkin and Robert Redford; filmmaker Ken Burns, fashion designer Zac Posen, and poet Amanda Gorman.
Read Staying Strong and Burnt Honey here.